


Brother.

by calcipoet



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Gen, Minor Character Death, Slow Burn, tag will be updated as chapters are posted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 08:28:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calcipoet/pseuds/calcipoet
Summary: Kyungsoo lost his brother once. Can he bear losing another?





	Brother.

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt Code:** #057  
>  **Pairing:** Baekhyun/Chanyeol/Chen/D.O  
>  **Rating:** Any  
>  **Sweet:** maybe some action? chan is fire and soo is earth ofc, the rest you may choose  
>  **Sour** : sad ending, gender-bending

_His vision was filled with flurry of greens and black surrounded by fiery red licking around the remnant of what used to be houses and a bustling city roads full of life, the earth shaking under and around him. He could hear a faint wail far back, where the air smelled strongly of metal and decay._

_The fight around him had yet to cease, men from the Earth Kingdom and the opposing party were still attacking each other. Everyone seemed to be oblivious to their surrounding and the amount of lifeless bodies that only keep increasing, the bodies of their fallen brothers._

_His hearing had been assaulted by screams of agony and frustration from every direction. Clacking sounds of swords and armor, the rumbles of ground rising, and the deafening sound of boulders crashing onto one another. He heard a faint thump on his right, only to realize that was the sound of a body hitting the ground. It was one of the man clad in black—the enemy, he thought—and he felt a wash of relief that his kingdom might hold up if only for a little bit. Because someone from the Kingdom sliced open an enemy, an event that would repulsed him any other day but was a blessing in disguise when it needed be._

_The relief was short-lived as an arrow shot through the man’s arm, snapping him out of his trance. He was visibly shocked; his trembling hand slowly grasped the arrow nestled on his left arm. He was about to pull it out when another pierced through his chest—the man was a bender, if the lack of any protection was any clue—sending him down on his knees. The man struggled to breathe, shallow repeated gasps making its way out from the man’s mouth. Blood slowly oozed through his once green clothing as he fell to the ground—breath grew weaker as the second ticks._

_The man’s eye met with Kyungsoo’s, who had frozen in his place as the man slowly drifted away. Kyungsoo’s chest grew tighter, his stomach churned from the sight in front of him; the man who was once a General for the Earth Kingdom’s frontline was dying, his face was stained with blood and dirt but Kyungsoo couldn’t mistaken that round eye that was staring at him. Couldn’t mistaken the tuft of black hair that was freshly cut by the man’s mother just a few days ago._

_The man was mouthing something at him, his lips kept opening and closing but his voice didn’t—couldn’t—reach Kyungsoo’s ears. He wished the man would stop to reserved what was left of his energy so that he could survive until help came along._

_Only then Kyungsoo realized that it was never a possibility for the man to survive; for his brother to survive. The place where the arrow nestled were drenched in blood. Kyungsoo could no longer see the gold Earth Kingdom sigil, covered with dirt and blood. Seungsoo’s green uniform was now a mixture of muddy brown and darker brown where the arrows were piercing him._

_He wanted to go to where Seungsoo was laying, wanted to hold his brother before he grew cold. Kyungsoo took a step forward when the image in front of him slowly crumbled, along with his brother. He let out a cry of plea, asking whatever Deities up there to give him more time with his brother. It wasn’t long until his surrounding turned to black, endless darkness engulfing him._

_What came after was always unpleasant. Kyungsoo felt it slowly creeping towards his neck. It felt like a rope or hand or something else strangling him, digging bruises to his neck and killing his breath; the sensation felt closer to drowning, but it was deep sorrow, numb, pain, and ache that he was swallowing instead of water. He couldn’t breathe, he didn’t know how to breathe. Not with how the hold on his neck seemed to tightened as seconds pass, like his lungs were filled with darkness that was surrounding him._

Kyungsoo jolted up from his sleep with a silent scream and body drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged as if he just ran for miles. He inhaled a long breath, holding it in for a while, before he let exhaled. Controlling his breathing was easier now that the phantom hold on his neck was no longer present and his lungs remembered how to work.

He thought to himself that after years of the same recurring dream, he would be immune and it would be less painful for him to witness his older brother died in front of him for the umpteenth times. He supposed the pain of losing someone dear to him would never become bearable even after a while, not when it kept haunting him every time he closed his eyes.

Kyungsoo lost Seungsoo during an insurgent attack near the Royal Empire a few years ago. It was one of those days when Seungsoo could leave his station during his day off and decided to meet his family for lunch with the promise to show his younger brother around, a promise he had kept since he enlisted to Earth Kingdom Royal Military.

The attack took everyone by surprise. The city was bustling with its usual business during the day when there was a sudden loud exploding sound down a few blocks from where the Doh were enjoying their lunch. Seungsoo rose from his seat in a blink of an eye, telling his parents and Kyungsoo to run from the area and hide until the commotion died down while he checked on it.

Outside the restaurant, a group of people clad in black were seen swarming the road. Some had weapons with them, while the others were causing chaos by throwing mini typhoons and streams of water towards street vendors; a sign that benders were well involved in this chaos.

Young Kyungsoo did not know how dangerous the situation was, all he knew was how he wanted to see his brother in action. Seconds after Seungsoo bolted out of the restaurant, Kyungsoo was up following after his brother. His parents distress call were ignored in favor of a little adventure.

Only it was never an adventure, because an adventure wouldn’t be filled with screams of terror and bloodbath. When Kyungsoo found Seungsoo, the commotion had turned to a full blown fight. The insurgent were attacking the Royal Army which were called upon to contain the attack. Seungsoo was in the middle a fight with two benders, a fire and earth bender ganging up on him when he spotted Kyungsoo within his peripheral. Seungsoo finished off his two opponents in a heartbeat upon seeing his younger brother; eyes wide from fear and expression grew grim at the amount of lifeless bodies laying around him.

Seungsoo’s heart faltered at the sight of his horrified younger brother, he wasn’t so sure whether he should chase after those insurgents or should he make sure his brother was safe.

In that split seconds of uncertainty, Seungsoo forgot that he was in the middle of a battleground. His hands that were shielding his sternum were now on his sides, his torso no longer guarded. It was then that the enemy took the opportunity. Two arrows were released; taking an older brother before his time, and damaging the younger one who witnessed his brother being murdered in front of him.

Kyungsoo remembered Seungsoo’s last word was an order for him to run, to flee from there, and be safe. He remembered vividly how his brother spluttered his last words, blood flooding his throat and choking him. It wasn’t the most horrendous sight per se, but Kyungsoo was sure that part of himself died together with his brother that day.

A small tug on his sleeve brought him back to reality. His roommate, a scrawny kid from Water Tribe, seemed to have woken up. Kyungsoo wished he didn’t make that much noise when he had that nightmare, he used to scream when he was younger but as he grew older, he managed to minimize the amount of sounds he made.

“Bad dreams?” His roommate had asked, voice scratchy and sleep laden. It occured to Kyungsoo that their room was still dark, aside from a soft light spilling through their thin curtain. He concluded that he hadn’t slept that long, if his surrounding was any indication.

“Yeah,” came Kyungsoo reply. He didn’t trust his voice to utter more than single syllable, his vocal chord felt like it was glued together. His throat was dry, as if he swallowed sacks of sand. He needed water but he couldn’t feel even an ounce of energy left in his body for him to get up and went to their communal kitchen.

Jongdae, his roommate, bless his pure soul produced a glass filled with water and gave it to Kyungsoo, one of the perks of being roomed with a waterbender he thought. Kyungsoo thanked him quietly, slowly sipping his water in hope it would soothe his throat. The water tasted a little funny; too clear and too sweet than what he used to but it was better than nothing.

Kyungsoo was aware that Jongdae stayed awake to make sure he finished his water, for reasons Kyungsoo didn’t know but he knew that questioning gaze that his roommate was sporting at the moment. Jongdae muttered a quiet good night when Kyungsoo was about to finish his water, he had slipped back under his blanket and was ready to go back to catch some sleep.

“You should go back to sleep,” Jongdae mumbled between yawns, sleep came easy to him, “Our schedule wouldn’t start until a few more hours”.

Kyungsoo hummed his answer, too distracted with the chaos in his head. A moment passed and he could hear the soft snore from bed next to him. Sometimes Kyungsoo envied how some people just lay their head and they would be out in a speed of light.

With Jongdae asleep, Kyungsoo was back alone with his thoughts, now wreacking havoc in his head. It was never a good day after one of his nightmare, images of his brother bloodied and battered too fresh in his mind. He willed himself to go back to sleep, promise of tomorrow’s training slowly replacing the unpleasant memories he badly needs to forget.

⇺ ⇻

Morning came with a blaring sound from their central alarm, effectively waking up everyone including Kyungsoo and Jongdae. Kyungsoo took a moment to discern his room; completely barren except for the two beds on each side and a wardrobe for their uniform surrounded by beige walls. It’s identical from his own room back home, albeit lacking the homey feeling his room provided.

Kyungsoo glance to the bed next to his where his roommate was grunting. Jongdae pulled his blanket over his head, refusing to wake up despite knowing their schedule.

“Jongdae,” Kyungsoo eventually stood up after he had fully woke up, “we need to get ready.” He strode to Jongdae side, shaking his roommate who seemed to have fallen back asleep while repeating the same phrase for a few time.

Five minutes of coaxing, a tuft of honey blonde hair peeked from where the blanket end showing a pouting Jongdae slowly waking up. When Kyungsoo was sure his roommate wouldn’t fall back asleep, he changed his night time clothes to a pair of grey sweats before heading of to their shared bathroom to wash up. He had 30 minutes left before the morning assembly started, not plenty but enough.

It didn’t take long for Kyungsoo to finish, he couldn’t exactly take a slow morning shower when he was aware of their time constrain and the incessant “are you finished?” coming from other, possibly late, recruits.

When he got back to his room, Jongdae was already in their uniform. A cream colored shirt tucked in dark grey pants with similar colored blazer, a name tag on his right chest above the pocket, and a metal pin badge showing their respective tribes, water tribe sigil in Jongdae’s case, alongside with Republic City’s on the left side.

“Did you get more sleep last night?” Jongdae opted to ask the question he meant to ask when Kyungsoo woke him up instead of the normal greeting.

“I did,” Kyungsoo hesitated a for a bit before he added, “I’m sorry for waking you up last night.” He wanted to go on, wanted to tell Jongdae that he promised to never do it again but he knew fully well that it would happen again; that the dream would come back.

A small smile made their way to Jongdae’s face, his lips curled in the way that looked kittenish and almost sinister, only almost. Because from the two days that Kyungsoo had spent together with Jongdae, he concluded that while Jongdae could be loud, the boy was the kindest soul he had met in the Academy.

“It’s fine!” Jongdae singsong voice was clear and cheerful, too cheerful for the perpetual solemn atmosphere the Academy seemed to possess.

“You were tossing and turning in your sleep,” He continued on, taking a seat on the edge of his bed while watching Kyungsoo fixing his attribute, “I debated waking you up but you calmed down so I thought whatever it was had passed.”

Kyungsoo gave his roommate a weak smile. He couldn’t tell Jongdae yet, afraid of reliving his nightmare before the day even started. Just the thought of it gave an acidic taste at the back of his throat. Jongdae didn’t press on the matter, merely rushing Kyungsoo to get out from their room before they were late for their first Morning Assembly and for that Kyungsoo was thankful.

When the roommates arrived at their destination, the Main Hall were crowded with new recruits and their seniors alike. Recruits stood together with their fellow tribes, the newest recruits got the front row for them. Something about welcoming them to the Academy.

Jongdae bid his goodbye to Kyungsoo while jogging towards the water tribe platoon, with a promise of seeing him during lunch later on. Kyungsoo made his way to where the earth tribe were standing.

He had hoped he would feel more at ease upon seeing his brother, but they were all unfamiliar faces amongst more unfamiliar faces apart from Jongdae. And that said a lot considering he barely knew Jongdae.

Seungsoo’s death were a huge turning point for Kyungsoo. He was not the most cheerful kid; he spent more time reading his brother’s old comics rather than running around in the playground, when asked why he would say he hated to sweat more than necessary. As he grew older he eventually opened up to the idea of playing with his neighbor, after being coaxed by Seungsoo that is. As it turned out, Kyungsoo could be a bit cheeky and witty when he wanted to. All in all, his friends found him to be a nice companion, he knew when to threw his jokes and when to listen.

Losing his brother at the such young age had shut Kyungsoo off from everyone. For a while it was understandable for the Doh were still grieving the loss of their son, the loss of Kyungsoo’s brother. But even after it had passed, Kyungsoo had lost that cheerfulness he once had. He became distant and closed off. Some people had even thought that he was cold and impolite. But Kyungsoo didn’t—couldn’t—care about what people think, he was lost and angry, and he didn’t expect other to understand why he was the way he was.

“Recruits, attention!” A booming voice shook Kyungsoo from his stupor. The Assembly was about to begin.

He quickly took his place on the front row along with the other new recruit from the Earth Kingdom. There were only a handful of new recruits, two from each tribes and another two from Republic City.

A man made his way to the podium, an authoritative aura radiated from his strong figure.

“Recruits, at ease!” The same booming voice ordered them. The man had arrived at the podium, taking off his peaked cap and holding it close to his heart.

“Welcome to new recruits!” The man had begun his speech. He introduced himself as Captain Choi, part of United Republic of Nations Navy and Head of The Academy. After a short welcome for the recruits, Captain Choi droned about the establishment of the Academy and the history behind it.

It all began when the phropersied Avatar never showed themselves. After the last Avatar had passed, the balance began to shake with the rising number of crimes. The military force had tried to do their job as well as they could but they didn’t have the ability and the wisdom that the Avatar had. As the crime rates plummeted, the people had hoped that their savior would come soon to restore the balance where it should have been.

For the first few years, the people had their hope high. Reasoning that not all Avatar came right after the previous passed. But years passed in a breeze with no sighting of the predestined successor. The people began to lose hope, the balance had been compromised for too long and started to show the real damage it had caused. The tribes were at peace with each other but adamant to share their bending knowledge, afraid if their weakness would be discovered and used to attack them. While the tribes were at the tip of complete distrust with each other, criminals had joined forces to take down one tribes at a time.

An attack towards Fire Nation that took hundreds of people’s lives were what it took for the four tribes to unite. The criminal gang, called Red Lily, backed off but not completely gone. They caused ruckus here and there from time to time, but the damages were always contained with this ad-hoc military forces.

After a period of calm, a convention was held. Head of Tribes along with their highest rank military figure were discussing a possibility of military cooperation. An idea that were originally opposed but seemed to be the best option at that moment. With the absence of Avatar, there wasn’t any figure that masters all bending and it was almost impossible to learn other bending aside from what they were born into. With balance of power being compromised and the one person they counted on to keep it was missing, the four nations came to a drastic decision.

After days of conferences and amendments were made, they eventually produced a resolution paper. The lengthy document stated that in order to bring peace as well as maintain balance in the universe, the four nations had realized the need to establish a new military body with focus on peacekeeping operations. This military body would then operate as an academy which would take recruits from each tribes to be trained in a group of four; one recruit from each tribe.

Captain Choi reminded that the main adjective of the Academy was to keep and maintain both peace and balance of the universe they live in. He then encouraged the new recruits to think of their assigned group as their family and to learn from each other what they hadn’t knew before; about bending, differences of character, and other trivial thing.

“One must know how to balance themselves before they can maintain the greater balance of power,” Captain Choi finished with a kind smile, his eyes crinkle at the sight of new recruits.

Before he wrapped up the Morning Assembly, he reminded everyone that their assigned group would be their family from that day onwards and it’s normal for family to have their differences as long as they knew how to find the middle ground.

“Your assigned group will be announced during tomorrow’s Morning Assembly,” He concluded, “the name you see on the list is final and cannot be changed, please look forward to it.” With that Captain Choi was out with brisk steps and an air of confidence never once leaving him.

As the Morning Assembly wrapped up, the new recruits were taken around the campus while the seniors were back on training and attending their lessons.

Lunch were a loud business with Jongdae around. The boy had been ecstatic this morning, something about new chapter of his life journey of some sort.

Seeing his roommate so thrilled about the prospect of being the messiah the people had hoped for, set off a guilty feeling inside Kyungsoo’s heart.

The selection process for the Academy was not an easy one. They had been tested for their academic capability, a complete medical check-up, and an additional psychological test where they could found out the probability for each candidate to betray them. Many tried and many had failed, coming home with a disappointed look on their face.

The only reason Kyungsoo tried to apply was to avenge his brother, he never thought he would pass but he did anyway. When he told his parents about his decision, his mother had fled the room while his father were asking him whether he was sure or not. Kyungsoo resolution was final and not even his mother tears could stop him.

He understood where they came from, he understood it perfectly. He knew his parents couldn’t bear to lose another son but this was what Kyungsoo wanted. His parents came around eventually; both were present when he left to the Academy. Kyungsoo promised to write as often as he could and to visit when he got an off day. He didn’t wish for them to understand why he did what he did, all he needed was their blessing and a blessing he got.

Night came faster than Kyungsoo expected. Before he knew it, he was back in his shared room with Jongdae. The other had just finished changing to his sleepwear; a short and tank, before slipping underneath his blanket. Kyungsoo could hear Jongdae steady breathing once he finished changing himself.

He turned off the lights in their room and head to his own bed. He quietly wished that today’s activity should tire him enough for him to have a dreamless sleep free of nightmares. He laid himself on his bed, closing his eyes while chanting a silent prayer to whatever Deities that heard him now that he wished for his parents to be healthy and for tomorrow to be kinder.

**Author's Note:**

> I legit planned a simple one-shot but my brain decided that nope, no can do. I'm writing the continuation of this so don't worry about it!
> 
> to my prompter, I'm not quite sure this is what you want but when I saw an Avatar AU I knew I had to write it. I'm aware this isn't much but I promise I will try my best to write it to the best of my ability so I won't disappoint you. It was fun writing this, thank you for this prompt! 
> 
> to mods, you are honestly the nicest people I've encountered. I asked a lot of questions but you never fail to answer me with patience each time. you have worked hard!
> 
> this is my first ever EXO fanfiction and the first fanfic that I wrote after a year and a half of hiatus, so this isn't exactly the best and my character building might slightly off, but any constructive critics are always welcomed.


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